The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1887-06-24
THE GAMBLING CRAZE.
1t Is Spreading Everywhere TO an
Alarming Extent.

The effect of the existing bucket shop
craze upon the boys and young men in
every branch of industry in down town
New York Is its most serious aspect
writes a correspondent to the Providence
journal. 1t is catching among them
and they are putting in many dollar
that they do not take out. Every little
while one of them makes a lucky hit,
and all of his comrades hear of it
and get the fever. The boy of
the period can buy share of
stock or barrel of oil or a bushel of
grain on paper for dollar are ten shares
for so or 100 shares for 800. He is an
office bog or a clerk on b or 80 a week.
He makes lucky hit, and finds himself
few dollars ahead. He neglects his
work or throws up his situation. or hangs
on, thinking of nothing but the bucket
shop and its easy method of giving him
money. All notions of honest, old fash
Toned work leave his brain, and he be
comes good for nothing at a very early
age.
The craze for betting on horse races
has grown apace since the mutual pool
system has become so common. The
old fashion auction pool is yet very
popular with those who desire to wager
any considerable sums of money, Int
the mutual pools admit of buying
- IL.
that 81 may return the investor any sum
from itself to $50, or even $50. The
common mutual pool tickets costs IS
and the next most popular one is S3. 1t
is common enough for these to pay ten
or twenty times their price, and fascina-
ton of big possible winnings on
small Investments is what makes the
race tracks so successful hereabouts.
The result of this craze, which has grown
like volcano since the pool bill became
a law, is the establishment of hundreds
of places in the city where tickets are
sold on the sly. 1t promises to develop
yet more as the season advances. With
the tracks at Jerome Park, Sheepshead
Bay, Gravesend, Brighton, Monmouth
Park, Gutenberg and Clifton, there is
not day, save Sunday, from April to
January in which there are not races.
Hundreds of people flock to them to bet
through the tracks agents and the city
pool selling places.
constantly adding devices and machines
of chance with which luck may be
tempted, the defeated ones to pay for
the drinks, of course. 1t Is plain, too.
that the idlers in the parks and the news
boys and bOotblacks in the alleys are
pitching pennies to a degree never before
noticed. 1t is also common enough to
ste TWO wen IIltfl Sttt titIll-
selves in a horse car and then proceed
sravely to match dimes to see which
man pays the fare of both.
So in little things as well
as in more extensive transac-
tons the mania to gamble crops out
and becomes more conspicuous. The
good people who are sure it is all wrong
are very much shocked and concerned.
They fear that the demoraliZing infiu-
ence will spread, and some of them are
predicting that a great wave of vice is
about to sweep over the land. In this
city and State there is a disposition to
countenance gambling on race tracks.
The Legislatures repeal of the law
which forbade it is regarded with alarm
by the anti-gambling element. They
think it indicates a willingness to
make gambling less restricted, and they
fear "A return of tie public gambling
houses in this city which fiourished to
such marked degree in the days of the
civil war. The enforcement of the laws
with respect to Sunday liquor selling.
and of liquor selling in places OF amuse-
ment has led to an outcry for the repeal
of those laws that simply alarms the
strict church people and absolute moral
ity- They think the world Is growing
worse very fast.